Our journey to the Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as many know it as, begins TODAY! We are very excited because the last time Joey went for an overseas holiday, she still didn’t know much yet. Now, she’s definitely more aware and can remember about this trip with Daddy & Mummy. =)

Since this is a Pamper-Joey trip, we have decided that we would buy her anything she asks for when we are there, including food and toys. Anything to make her happy for the 3 days we’re on holidays. To start off, I prepared these snacks for her to munch on the plane and at HCMC. All her favourite snacks!

And just in case she really doesn’t take to the food in Vietnam, I brought along cup porridge and cup noodles. But of course, I think most likely she’ll fall in love with Vietnam’s famous pho soup noodles and fried spring rolls. =) Bringing a kid along on a holiday just makes me a little more kiasu. =P We can always eat those for suppers!

By the time you’re reading this, I might already be roaming on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City! I might attempt to post something if I can tap on the wireless internet in my hotel room. Otherwise, I’ll be back with tons of photos of the streets of HCMC next week. Take care! =)

Recently, I’ve been having this ‘I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel’ feeling.

Of course, taking care of my kids is still hard work now, but I can really feel the difference now that Baby Jayne is approaching two. Nope, I’ve not forgotten the Terrible Two stage, and I know it’s approaching, but so far, it’s been going pretty well. She’s independent enough now and that makes me feel that the job is easier. I am still looking forward to the near future when she can feed herself very well, and I think by then, it’d be even easier.

I spent the whole weekend with my girls and we had a great time together. =) On Sunday especially, I was having so much fun watching them. I really am blessed to have two adorable girls.

The girls’ grandma bought them similar sunglasses. $2 each. Very affordable fashion!

Finally, there is a pair of specs small enough for Baby Jayne. It fits perfectly! And she was thrilled seeing everything in dark purple.

This could be Joey’s 3rd or 4th pair of sunglasses since the previous pairs all broke. Cannot expect good quality for kids’ accessories. One thing never changed though- It’s got to be pink. She only accepts pink things. =.=

The girls had fun with their new specs, but they had even more fun in the shower! They played so long in the bathroom that their hands all turned wrinkled, which kinda freaked Baby Jayne out a little. Haha!

They actually didn’t do anything much, just kept pouring water from one container to another, from one cup to another.

Still, it was tough getting the girls to get out once they get in! They simply love their bath time too much.

I just watched them from one side, sip a cup of lovely coffee and enjoy some time not having to chase the girls around. It was lovely. =)

I was doing some research on the internet the other day and came across these jokes, which made me laugh out real hard! (Extracted from www.101funjokes.com)

Being a parent changes everything. But being a parent also changes with each baby. Here are some of the ways having a second and third child is different from having your first.

Your Clothes

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

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Preparing for the Birth

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.

2nd baby: You don't bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.

3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.

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The Layette

1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.

2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.

3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

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Worries

1st baby: At the first sign of distress - a whimper, a frown-you pick up the baby.

2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.

3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

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Pacifier

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.

2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.

3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

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Diapering

1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.

2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.

3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

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Activities

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, BabySwing, and Baby Story Hour.

2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.

3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

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Going Out

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.

2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.

3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

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At Home

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.

2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

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Swallowing Coins

1st child: when first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.

2nd child: when 2nd child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for coin to pass.

3rd child: when 3rd child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!

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JUST FOR LAUGHS, GUYS!!! =D (Although I can really relate to some of them! =P)

I am so not prepared for this.

The teacher had told me that Spelling starts in Term 2, and I had thought that she meant second half of the year. Apparently, there are four terms in a year! And Term 2 starts right after the March one week holidays. =X

And so, the girl brought home a Spelling List the other day, and a little note from the teacher:

“ Dear Parent, please note that every Wednesday is Spelling Day. Thank you.”

Now, this spells trouble immediately. I work till very late every Tuesday night and I usually don’t get to see my kids till Wednesday. If I don’t see Joey before I leave for work on Wed, I only get to see her on Wed evening. And her spelling is over by then!!!!!

And so, my only option is to go through the spelling with her every Monday, and pray and hope that she’ll not forget the words by Wed. Oh, this feels so depressing and definitely doesn’t sound like a decent strategy at all!

Well, I don’t need her to get good results to show off to anyone. I only want her to feel good about herself, and confident that she knows how to spell the words. It definitely feels lousy when one cannot do well in school, and I don’t want her to feel anything like that.

And again, I’m made to feel that every parent must be good in their languages, Maths and Science. Otherwise, how to coach their kids?? But reality is not every parent is good at that! Some parents may not be able to understand English even??!

Thankfully, at the beginning stage, it’s only three words per week, and they are all words that rhyme, so it should be easier. Still, it’s the added stress. On top of her homework, she needs to learn her spelling! Joey doesn’t seem to know what awaits her, but let’s hope that she’ll embrace this new phase of her life with much zeal and enthusiasm!

 

Spelling Bee Joey, 加油!

I know it’s really, really time to wean Baby Jayne off her pacifier. But that’s where the problem is: She can’t be weaned off!!!!

I know, there’s no such thing as ‘cannot be weaned off’. I only need to find a heart hard enough to make her do it. Oh man, where to find it???

I remember during Joey’s time, it was easy for me to wean her off her pacifier because she primarily only looked for her pacifier during bedtimes. So when she turned one year old, I brought her to the dustbin and told her as a matter-of-factly that she was no longer a baby and thus needed the pacifier no more, and threw the pacifier in. She was cool about it (Even though she tried digging the dustbin for it a few times after that).

But for Baby Jayne, she’s practically in love with her pacifier and she sucks on it day and night. When her attention is occupied sufficiently by toys and programmes, she will forget about the pacifier. But the moment she quietens down, she starts looking for her pacifier and the ‘smelly blanket’. But fret not, it’s not really smelly because we change it at least twice a day.

Truth be told, I am reluctant to wean her off her pacifier as well because the moment she sucks on it, it’s much easier to get her to fall asleep. It works like a charm every time.

Then again, it’s really not nice to have a toddler walking around sucking her pacifier. So we’ve been trying to get her to agree to throwing it away and good riddance forever. But each time we broach on the topic of throwing the pacifier away, she gets all upset and whinny. It’s after all her favourite comfort thing.

Ahhhhh… this calls for a hard heart definitely, and I’ve decided that her two-year-old birthday shall be the ultimatum! It’ll be too unbecoming to continue in her infatuation with the pacifier after that!

Wish me all the best.

I just love open-air night markets. To me, it’s a good balance between night market shopping and good ventilation. My Monday was made perfect when we went over to JB to check out the KSL Pasar Malam. I think it’s awesome! It’s actually a car boot sale because all the stall owners operate from their vehicles!

This pasar malam is only open every Monday evening. It’s located along the road in front of the new KSL Shopping Mall. Unlike pasar malams in Singapore, this pasar malam not only sells food and lifestyle items, there are also many stalls selling raw meat, vegetables and yong tau hu!

Baby Jayne had the best view of all! She was carried by Daddy throughout. :)

The weather was glorious! I love walking through bustling night markets during the evenings.

Because of the raw food on sale, there is a wet market smell in the air, but my girl seemed un-detered! She went so near to the raw shellfish that I had to pull her away nervously. Haha.

This is such a good place to get all your ingredients for steamboat!!

Quite a few stalls set up their cooking facilities here to serve up piping hot food! The fried carrot cake smelled so good. =)

Soya beancurd served fresh and hot. They even have the salty version which tasted very nice.

Pancakes that can only be found in Malaysia. Those in Singapore are soft and very thick. Those served here are soft but crispy on the edges.

All kinds of fried-on-the-spot food here. I bought some prawn fritters at RM1 each to try, and they were super yummy!

All kinds of raw fishes!

Kueh kuehs of all kinds and patterns.

Lei Cha – a traditional Hakka cuisine

A traditional Chinese medicine truck. They really have all kinds of Chinese medicines and herbs like dang gui, american ginseng, bird’s nest… Most of the stuff are sold by 100grams.

Durian aroma in the air as well! Wootsss!

There were many fruit stalls there as well, and many were selling abundance of big fat juicy mangoes!

Nuts and crackers stall. Everything was vacuum-packed and very hygienic.

Yes, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. There was an Uncle selling wild boar’s meat on a motorcycle! I sneaked a peek into his bucket and it was a whole wild boar de-skinned and lying there. =X

The fresh produce in large varieties and quantities. They looked very fresh indeed.

This stall caught my attention. The Uncle was selling fried seafood nasi goreng. It smelled super good and the large frying pan he was using made it look like we were in a mexican fiesta of some kind.

Looks really good huh?!

Lots of stalls were selling roasted products as well. Ducks, chicken, geese, sausages…

All kinds of clothes were on sale at this place as well, and you can find a lot of affordable children fashion here! 

This stall was of course my girl’s favourite. They sell all kinds of pet fishes!

This pasar malam is really one that caters to the needs of young and old and all kinds of interests! =) Plus, it was an interesting journey for my kids as well. We don’t have many of such markets in Singapore anymore. I'm definitely going back again!

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y. The moment has finally arrived for City Harvest Church to move into our magnificent new service venue at Suntec City Convention Centre Halls 601-603! What wonderful Opening Services we had over the weekend! It was mind-blowing and I feel very, very proud to be in this amazing church.

Even with great expectations about how the hall looked like, I was in awe when I stepped in. The auditorium is HUGE, and the stage was big with LED screens from one end to the other. It is truly the House of God – Magnificent and glorious.

Hall 603 is a place dedicated to members and visitors’ fellowship and a place for new friends to know more about the church.

On one side is the members’ lounge where members can mingle and chat with other members in the church over a cup of coffee.

The visitors’ lounge is meant for newcomers in the church to gather more information about the church, and be introduced to other members in the church should they wish to join a cell group.

Photo gallery showcasing the great works of the church photographers.

Ministry booths that tell you more about the different aspects of the church. Members can also sign up for bible studies or ministries at these booths.

A good half of Hall 603 is dedicated to Kids@Play, where the children’s mega playground is! My kids went wild when they saw this whole setup!! It was just amazing. =)

Over the weekends during the Opening Service, every attendee received a Welcome Pack that looked like this:

The cover of the Welcome Pack is a lenticular. Tilt it to one side, you’ll see the very first building City Harvest Church used for its church services at 41A Amber Road..

And tilt it the other way, and you’ll see Suntec Convention Centre! =D

Now here’s another amazing part. Once you open the Welcome Pack, you’ll find a pair of 3D specs attached inside. This 3D specs is for the Opening Video during the service. A 3D video in church?! I think it’s the FIRST of its kind!!!! The video was moving and very impactful. Definitely a visual feast! I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching the 3D video and can’t help but be amazed with the hard work put in by the media team behind the scenes! It was very impressive!!

I am so happy that this is going to be the place my kids are going to grow up loving & serving God! =)